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Snowmobile and ice fishing in Saariselkä: half day or full day

A lone rider on a snowmobile far out on a wide frozen expanse criss-crossed by tracks, forested hills behind under a pale dawn sky

Illustration photo: a snowmobile on a frozen lake, not on one of the trips compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For the longest time out with a proper meal, book Lapland Welcome's full day: about two hours of driving, fishing on a frozen lake and a barbecue lunch by the fire, at the highest price. For a half day, Lapland Safaris costs less and sells child fares from two. Lapponia Tours adds an optional seat in a sleigh for anyone who would rather not drive, but takes nobody under seven.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Lapland SafarisLapponia ToursLapland Welcome
Price €210 – the lowest price per person €225 €309
Length 4 h 4 h 6 h
Driving time Not stated Not stated About 2–2.5 h
Food Snack by the campfire Picnic lunch by a campfire Barbecue lunch by the fire
Sleigh seat for a non-driver Not stated Optional Not stated
Children Child fares 2–3 and 4–14 Not under 7 Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All three price per person. Only price is marked: a six-hour day with lunch is not comparable with a four-hour trip on price alone.

Where these figures come from
  • Lapland Safaris: The lowest price: four hours to a remote lake north of the village, a snack by the campfire and the chance to fry your catch. Child fares from two, on four mornings a week.
  • Lapponia Tours: Four hours with a picnic lunch by a campfire and thermal gear, and a seat in a sleigh behind the guide as an option for anyone who does not drive. Nobody under seven.
  • Lapland Welcome: The full day: six hours, of which two to two and a half are driving on quieter routes, a barbecue lunch by the fire and transfers from listed hotels. The highest price.

Three trips from Saariselkä combine a snowmobile ride with ice fishing on a wilderness lake. The fishing is much the same on each: a hole in the ice, a line and a fire on the shore. The choice is how long a day you want and who in the group is coming.

A half day

Lapland Safaris and Lapponia Tours both take about four hours. Lapland Safaris costs less, heads north of the village to a remote lake on four mornings a week and sells child fares from two, though its page does not say how children travel. Lapponia Tours serves a picnic lunch by the fire, lends thermal gear and sells a seat in a sleigh behind the guide as an option, which lets someone who does not want to drive come along. It takes nobody under seven and does not collect from the Kakslauttanen and Kiilopää area.

A full day

Lapland Welcome’s trip lasts six hours and is the only one that states the driving time: about two to two and a half hours, two people to a machine, on quieter routes. Lunch is a barbecue by the fire, and transfers from the hotels on its list are included. It costs the most, and riding alone and a lower damage liability are sold on top.

Ice fishing without a snowmobile, by car, van or on snowshoes, is compared in ice fishing in Saariselkä. Snowmobile tours without fishing are in snowmobile safaris in Saariselkä, and what a combined day is like in general is in snowmobile and ice fishing in Rovaniemi. The rest of the village is on the Saariselkä destination page.

Which trips take a child from two, what a child’s seat in the guide’s sled costs and when a tall child pays the adult fare is set out in family snowmobile safari in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

On which days do the trips run?

Lapland Safaris lists its trip on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, leaving at nine in the morning. The two GetYourGuide listings show their days only once you pick a date in the calendar. If your stay is short, check the calendars before you plan the rest of the week around the fishing, because a half-day trip that runs four days a week may not fit.

Can we cook what we catch?

On two of them. Lapland Safaris says you can fry the fish you have just caught over the campfire, and Lapponia Tours that you can prepare your catch on the fire if you are lucky. Lapland Welcome serves a barbecue lunch by the fire and does not say whether your fish goes on it, so ask if eating your own catch is part of the plan.

Can I drive a snowmobile on my own?

On Lapland Welcome's day it is sold as a supplement that is not in the listed price, which assumes two people sharing each machine. Lapland Safaris does not say on the part of its page that opens without a date. A solo traveller should ask before booking whether a machine of their own is possible, or whether a seat will be shared with another guest.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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